This interview with Jets forward John McCord took place just after the Jets' 1-1 weekend on March 22nd/23rd 2003. The Jets had lost away to London Towers (84-77) on Saturday and returned to the Northgate Arena to bear Essex Leopards 103-87 the next day. In both games the Jets were without starting forward Kenny Gregory and on Sunday they were also without point guard John Thomas. Veteran foward Dave Gardner had come out of retirement (yet again!) to cover for the injured players....

John McCord and the Jets team have responded to a piece of advice from assistant coach Paul Smith.

McCord, who top-scored with 31 points [plus he pulled down 11 rebounds and made 11 assists to claim a rare treble-double] in Chester's 103-87 home win against Essex Leopards on Sunday, reflected on a comment from Smith after his team's latest success.

McCord said: "Our assistant coach, Paul Smith, always tells us that a good team doesn't lose two games in a row.

"We lost Saturday's game at London Towers, so we tried to bounce back on our home court. We wanted to put everything on the line against Leopards, and were not content to just win the BBL Trophy or finish only fifth or third in the league.

"We know it's going to be a struggle to win the title, but we just want to lay it on the line and whatever happens, happens.

"We played well down at the Towers but it was just very hot in their gym which drained us, and that seemed to help them."

Chester Jets still haven't lost back-to-back weekend league games so far this season, and they have only lost two of their home fixtures this term.

McCord said: "It was an unbelievable performance on Sunday at home to the Leopards. Yogi (Dave Gardner) came in and played well, Todd (Cauthorn) played well, Calvin (Davis) played well, we all played well.

"We knew before the game that Mookie (John Thomas) and Kenny ( Gregory ) were not going to play, so we had to dig deep and lay things on the line and try and get a win, and keep our fingers crossed."

McCord praised the crowd for their contribution towards Jets' impressive home performances so far this term.
He said: When we play at home the crowd is our extra man.

"It's a bit different when we play on the road, but our fans really help us out at the Northgate Arena when we're down. They lift us and give us that extra momentum, and they helped us get the victory.

"The fans have supported us all year long, and whenever we're low they get us up, so when I applauded them during Sunday's game it was my way of saying that we appreciate their support both this year and last year.

"I know they come along to Northgate every Sunday and cheer us on, and all the players appreciate the support we receive."

McCord commented on his own performance and was pleased to see the team overcome their problems to seal success.

He added: "Robbie Peers looks to to both Calvin and me to score a lot and without Mookie and Kenny in the team we knew we were going to get a lot of shot opportunities on Sunday.

"I got into a lot of great positions and my team found me, so I took advantage of it, and fortunately for us, Calvin and Todd both stepped up and shot the lights out in the second half. And Pero also picked his spot on court.

"We tried to reduce Leopards to Outside shots with our hands in their faces, and when they penetrated we sort of collapsed, and that's when they hit their three-point shots.

"But when we made an adjustment after collapsing the whole team gave them difficulties and that gave us the opportunity to run at them.

"We've got some good guards on our team and we've got good chemistry, and that pulled us through."

J-Mac was talking to Dennis Wall          John's roster page   front page